Not a fan of the effort it takes to manually brush your teeth? An electric toothbrush could be just the tool to ensure a clean and fresh smile with minimal effort…

Electric toothbrushes typically use battery power to move the toothbrush head, either with a vibrating motion or an oscillating fashion from side to side, or rotationally in one direction and then the other. When using an electric toothbrush, the vibrating type should be used with a brushing technique similar to a manual toothbrush, while the rotating or oscillating toothbrushes only require you to simply move the brush slowly from tooth to tooth, spending some time on each surface of the tooth. So, if it’s minimal effort you’re after, find an electric toothbrush with rotating or oscillating action.

Typically you have the choice of a rechargeable electric toothbrush that contains a rechargeable battery and sits on a base that plugs into a wall outlet, or a battery powered brush that uses an AA battery. Some electric toothbrushes have a timer button or an LCD display that indicates when a sufficient length of brushing time has passed, usually two minutes. Some even buzz or temporarily interrupt the power every 30 seconds so that you know when to move the toothbrush from one quadrant of the mouth to the next, assuming 30 seconds for each of the four quadrants of the mouth. Some of the more sophisticated models also have digital reminders to replace your brush head and pressure sensors that signal when you are brushing too hard.

If you don’t mind doing a thorough manual brushing twice a day, then you don’t need an electric toothbrush. In fact, in cases where individuals have a good manual brushing technique, an electric toothbrush does not necessarily do a better job at cleaning. However, for individuals that have reduced motor skills or health problems that reduce their ability to effectively brush manually (for example, arthritis), or for those that just don’t like brushing manually, an electric toothbrush is a great option to maintain a healthy smile. Some children also find the novelty of using an electric toothbrush an encouragement to brush, while parents may like the timer feature, which helps to ensure that their child had spent enough time brushing.